Challenging assumptions about dogs and First Nations

I’m on my second visit to James Bay, Quebec for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Northern Dogs Project. A team of us made the 15 hour trek from Ontario in what we called the ‘caravan of love’ – a convoy of rental vans chock full of dog enthusiasts, most of whom have volunteered their time because they love to work with the dogs and people who live in the First Nations communities that IFAW works in.

What we see in these communities, as far as the dogs go, is very different from what I’m accustomed to, and I find myself constantly faced with my own assumptions and biases. Dogs in First Nations communities used to be workers.

They guarded the camp, they carried the packs, and they hunted with their people. The breeds of dogs were also suited to work and cold – breeds like huskies or what were called Cree dogs. When First Nations people began to live less on the land, and rely less on the dogs, the status of dogs changed and so did the breeds.

For the most part, dogs today have lost their traditional role as “worker” yet the idea of “companion” in First Nations communities tends to be different from what I am used to.

Most First Nations dogs roam freely outdoors. To an outsider, it might appear as if the dogs are strays and that people don’t care about them or are mistreating them somehow by not bringing them indoors. The fact is, the majority of the dogs in these communities have owners, and their owners take some level of care of them– they just have different values and experiences about dogs and their place in the community.

Roaming dogs can, however, become a nuisance if they’re not fed or cared for properly or are suffering from disease or injury. And dogs left to their own devices will be dogs -- chasing things such as cars, getting into fights over females and having puppies up to three times a year.

When you add the fact that many of these communities don’t have access to veterinary care, it can be a recipe for disaster.

The recent case of a six year old boy from a First Nation community in Manitoba is a devastating example of when things go wrong. Playing outside with his friends, the child was attacked by three dogs. It’s hard to know exactly what triggered the attack, but the reason is no comfort to that child or his family.

The community feels they don’t have many options for addressing their dog-related issues– there are no vets or shelters and responsible dog ownership has not yet been embraced. As a result, the only ‘solution’ is to shoot the dogs to reduce their numbers. Unfortunately, dog shoots don’t work and they don’t address the root of the overall problem.

Again, the bias and assumption kicks in. My personal views on dogs and how to keep them are based on my own experiences and values. In my world dogs aren’t workers, they aren’t even companions - they are family. Shooting them seems like a horrid end.

But those are MY values, and I have to challenge them when I go into other communities and other cultures. In this instance I had to remember two things – the value of dogs in these communities is changing for the better; and we kill dogs in my hometown too, we just do it behind closed doors.

That’s not to say that First Nations have nothing to challenge in terms of their values about dogs. I think they do, but I don’t pretend to know the social struggles that First Nations communities are facing, and I completely understand the fact that the list of priorities in many First Nations communities is very long, often putting dogs at the bottom.

We’re currently in one community that we’ve been collaborating with since 2002. They prioritized the safety of their community members and the welfare of their dogs and they’ve spent the last six months consulting with their people on new dog bylaws, passed just this week.

They’re working with IFAW and inviting us in to talk to the kids in their schools, and since the closest vet is nearly two hours away they invite us to provide veterinary services, including spay/neuter as a tool to assist them with their dogs. We are also working on surveying the community to track individual dogs over time as another tool to inform the issue.

It’s a holistic approach that should lead to an effective system that works for them and we will continue to offer our services and support to them.

First Nations communities across the country are struggling with dog issues, but we are seeing some of them working to address them and find their own solutions. Bias and assumption are hard to crack – but so are the issues that our First Nations peoples are facing.